Florida cries out for bailout

The federal government plan to buy $700 billion in bad debt has gotten South Florida real estate and business leaders excited. Though details remain scarce and political fallout is nearly certain, Ron Shuffield, president of Coral Gables brokerage Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, says the prospect of relief offers comfort to banks and other lenders suffering in a frozen credit market. Even though the slide in home prices has made South Florida more affordable to home buyers, he said, with 44 percent of the inventory listed at below $300,000, financing is so tight that many would-be home buyers can’t get a loan.

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